May9,2017

“President Trump's decision to fire FBI director James Comey is deeply disturbing. It comes as Comey is in the midst of an investigation into possible collusion between Trump campaign officials and Russian operatives to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. We know the Russians were behind the hacking of DNC emails and that they did so to try and give Trump an advantage in the election. Furthermore, there is troubling evidence of connections between a number of Trump campaign operatives and the Russians, connections that on more than one occasion those Trump campaign officials were caught lying about.

“FBI Director Comey was in charge of what was the one clearly independent investigation of this unprecedented interference in our elections by a foreign power. Did Trump fire Comey to stop this investigation? There is no way to prove that, but it is a very troubling coincidence. Coupled with President Trump's refusal to turn over his tax returns and continuing denial of what the Russians clearly did in the election, there is every reason to believe our president is acting to stop any legitimate investigation into those Russian actions.

“We are a nation of laws, not individuals. By firing Director Comey President Trump has shown he does not understand this basic, governing, Constitutional principle of our nation. We must continue to push for a special prosecutor to get to the bottom of what happened in the 2016 election and not let this President sweep it under the rug.”